A Trip Down Memory Lane
by wackystrings123
Summary: "If you don't like her then why did you ask her out?" "'Cause I wanted to make you jealous" "Why?" "Because…" TxG


**Author's note: This as I am sure you can see is pretty different from my usual writing style and this is the first time I am doing something like this so I apologize if it sounds odd at some parts. I also apologize for (if any) the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. This story helped me out a lot when I was working on the latest chapter of _Welcome to My Life _and is also helping me type chapter five of _A Passionate Affair_, so I owe a lot to it. This is the most I have ever typed so far so enjoy… **

**Disclaimer: I own _nada _but the plot, the writing and the OCs. _

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Summary: "If you don't like her then why did you ask her out?" "'Cause I wanted to make you jealous" "Why?" "Because…" TG oneshot

Rated M: Contains explicit language, sexual references and mild violence.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

By wackystrings123

Streaks of lightening illuminate the charcoal black sky, followed seconds later by the deafening "boom" of thunder.

Gabriella Montez shudders from where she sits, cross legged on the floor with her physics textbook resting on her lap; she _hates _thunderstorms.

Her dark mocha eyes rise from the open book and gaze out of the window into the dark night. Studying had proven to be difficult hours ago but for some reason her eyes never leave the pages. A part of her thinks it is because she is frozen in that moment, unmoving and thinking, just thinking: But the other sensible part of her knows that it is because she does not want to stare into those apologetic aquamarine pools that are drilling holes into the back of her head. She exhales loudly and runs her fingers through her dark tresses in frustration.

She is an extremely self conscious person; growing up, she was teased about her looks and was called things like "brace-face" or "four eyes". Even after the braces and the glasses have been long gone she cannot look in the mirror without seeing the most hideous creature known to man staring right back at her. Even when her friends and family tell her that she is beyond beautiful she sees otherwise: The huge dimple on her chin, the many lines adorning her face and the wild dark curls that hang in front of her face and fall way below her shoulders. Because of that she prefers dressing in the baggiest yet most comfortable clothes she can find.

"Brie," her heart rate picks up at the sound of his low husky voice calling her the name only he is, or was, allowed to. She seals her eyes and lips shut and refuses to show any signs of response to him, "please talk to me." The pieces of her heart break even more at the sound of the desperation in his voice. She hates it when he's sad or hurt; it always makes her feel like crying especially when she is the cause of it.

"I know what I did was wrong," he continues, his voice breaking at times, "really wrong, and you have every reason to hate me, " Gabriella can't help but nod slightly in agreement, "I know, but I just want you to say something; yell at me, I don't care. All I want is to hear your voice, see your smile, hear your laugh, see your nose crinkle up in concentration," Gabriella involuntarily blushes at that; he always manages to make her blush even without realizing it, "…but I don't want to see you hurting, hurting because of me," he mutters the last bit quietly. "You may be fooling everyone with this 'I'm fine' façade, but you can't fool me. I know you too well." He finishes softly. Gabriella finally turns to him. She tries to keep a straight face, but fails when she sees the familiar disheveled hair falling into the cyan pools and the faint traces of stubble scattered across his firm jaw, showing that he has not shaved in a while. "I want to see that sparkle in your eyes when you smile or talk about something you love. I miss your hugs and I miss you; I want my best friend back." Troy murmurs, staring intensely into her mocha eyes, trying to sought out any signs of forgiveness but all he gets are the stone brown eyes filled with anger.

"So do I."

"I need you back, Brie." He begs, "You know I can't live without you." _Can he get any more dramatic?_ She scoffs to herself.

Her eyes narrow. "Really?" she taunts, "you seemed to get along just fine with _her_."

"I also had you!" he insists. He had gotten off the desk chair and is sitting a little away from her, a look of desperation, sadness and need all over his face.

"Troy, you barely talked to me in the last two month, and then you went five fucking weeks without talking to me at all!"

"It wasn't my fault, Lisa…"

"Oh yes, it's always 'Lisa'" she hisses her voice seething with venom and distaste, "All I've been hearing for the past month and a half is 'Lisa this, Lisa that' and it hurts. It felt like you had forgotten me, like you didn't know who I was anymore." Tears cling to the bottom of her eyes.

"I'm so, _so _sorry. I know how you feel –"

"No. No you don't! You don't even know the half of it 'cause you've been too hung up on that…_bitch_." She pauses waiting to see Troy's reaction. But he doesn't cringe or flinch or show any sign of discomfort at the fact that Gabriella has just called his girlfriend a dog. "And now because she's moving you want me in your life again? It doesn't work that way."

Her words hang in the air, both trying to make sense of the situation. After a while Troy finally speaks. "Do you remember the first day we met?"

Shocked and dumbfounded Gabriella only manages a "huh?"

"The day we met? Do you?"

Of course she does, the day is still lodged in her mind, permanently.

* * *

_The relatively small seven year old standing beneath the hot glare of the merciless sun continues to stare longingly at the large pitcher set on table right in front of her, filled to the brim with bright yellow liquid, complete with huge ice cubes floating around on the top._

_The girl, with her dark caramel hair cut short, bobbing just above her shoulders, rests her chin lazily on the center of her palm. Her plump pink lips stretch into a disappointed scowl; she had never, in her seven years of life, expected selling to be this…uneventful._

_She lets out an exaggerated sigh and pouts her lips further, never once taking her eyes off the glass jug._

_"Hi sweetie."_

_The disappointed seven year-old slowly raises her at the sound of the gentle feminine voice. Trying to seem polite, he girl forces the brightest smile she can muster._

_"Good afternoon, ma'am." She starts sweetly, beaming speaking the words she had memorized by heart the day before. "May I indulge your taste buds with a glass of homemade lemonade?" _

_The older woman laughs at the younger girls' choice of words, "I would love that, dear."_

_The girl gleefully pours her a glass, carefully and at the same time trying to stop her hands from shaking. She watches and waits impatiently as the woman carefully sips at the drink._

_"Oh my, this is really good." The woman says as she places a dollar on the table. The girls' eyes widen at this._

_"B-but I don't have any change." She protests._

_"That's quite alright." The woman smiles once more. "What's your name?"_

_"Gabriella." She beams._

_"Mommy!" _

_The boy looks roughly about the same age as Gabriella. His chestnut brown curls frame his chubby face, now slightly pink from running and yelling. His cerulean blue eyes are bright and excited as he tugs at his moms skirt with his small chubby hands._

_"Mom, there's a huge basketball court over there" he starts excitedly and breathless, the moment he has grabbed his mothers attention, "can we go." _

_The seven year old Gabriella laughs quietly as the boy pouts, puckering his lips a little too much causing his face to look odd. The boy hears her laugh. He snaps his attention from his mother and fixes his azure gaze on Gabriella._

_"Ma?" he whispers, moving away from the curious girl, "who's that?"_

_The woman chuckled silently, "Troy, this is Gabriella."_

Later that day

_"Christina!"_

_"Yea mom?"_

_Christina Montez bounds down the stairs in a huff. Her straight caramel hair, which is pulled up into a high ponytail, swings rhythmically behind her as she lets her slender bronze legs, left bare beneath her shorts, carry her the down the wooden stairs. At the age of eleven Christina had already started rebelling. She is constantly being scolded, she has been to detention several times, has been caught doing unmentionables with a number of guys almost twice her age, etcetera. Her parents blame the strange group of older teenagers the saw her with quite a number of times; they constantly try to keep things under-wraps from the rest of the world and are currently doing pretty well._

_Rolling her light hazel eyes rudely, Christina stalks into the kitchen with her arms folded across her covered chest. "Yes mom?"_

_"I need you and Gabby to take these over to our new neighbors." Maria Montez said gesturing towards the plate of her famous peanut butter cookies. She glances at her daughters' attire before frowning slightly, "but go put on some clothes first." _

_Christina looks down at her clothes in confusion. She can't seem to find a problem with the thin, hot pink spaghetti-strap tank top hanging low over her chest giving a small peek of her developing breasts, or her ripped jean shorts and flip flops, "what wrong with what I'm wearing?"_

_"Go put a sweater on or something."_

_Christina lets out an angered noise before retreating up the stairs to change._

_Maria Montez sighs as she watches her eldest daughter leave the kitchen. She wipes her hands across her stained apron, sighs quietly before returning back to her cooking._

_Seconds later the back door slams open and Gabriella runs in, squealing and covered in mud. "Mami, daddy's trying to eat me!" she shrieked running to her mother and burying her face in the elder woman's stomach. Maria smiles and ruffles her daughters short hair, picking out several small twigs from the mass of midnight black curls. _

_"Really?" she plays along with the seven year old, "I'll save you. In the mean time, go shower up, I need you and Christina to do something for me."_

_Gabriella nods then disappears from her mother's sight._

_"I think I sprained something." Maria's head rises at the sound of her husband's voice. She stifles a laugh as she walks over to where stands, vigorously rubbing his side._

_Gabriella pushes her short legs as she runs to try and catch up with her older sister at the same time trying to slide her foot into her shoe. "Tina, wait!" she calls. _

_The older Montez slows down a little but still continues walking carefully balancing the plate of cookies on her hand. She had reluctantly listened to her and pulled on a white hoodie with a bright logo. Once she catches up with her sister, Gabriella grabs her free hand and jogs a little to match her sisters pace._

_"Who are our new neighbors?"_

_"I think mom said their last name is Bolton and that they have a son your age so don't get any ideas Gabs." Christina teases slyly. Gabriella's face scrunches up in disgust,_

_"Ew, boys are gross!" _

_"You'll get to an age when you'll think they're anything but gross."_

_"I don't think so." The younger Montez counters stubbornly._

_Christina grins as she rings the doorbell of their new neighbors' house. The door is opened by the same boy Gabriella saw earlier. She stares at the boy thoughtfully, trying to recall his name; unknowingly to her, he's doing the exact same thing._

_"Troy! What have I told you about answering the door? Oh, hello." Gabriella recognizes the woman as the one who had given her two dollars for two glasses of lemonade earlier. Mrs. Bolton smiles softly at the two girls._

_"Good afternoon ma'am," Christina speaks in the angelic voices she always uses to please people, "we just wanted to welcome you into our neighborhood." She holds up the plate for Mrs. Bolton to take, "my name is Christina Montez and this is my sister Gabriella, we live just right next door and you are most welcome to stop by at any time." _

_Christina's words sound slightly rehearsed to Gabriella's ears but she just grins. She finds herself trying to catch a peek of Troy as he tries to hides behind his mother, peeking shyly at Christina._

_"Thank you dear, that's very sweet of you. Would you like to come in for some milk and cookies?"_

_"Well actually-"_

_"Yes please!" Gabriella excitedly cuts Christina off as she pulls her hand free from her sisters' grasp. Mrs. Bolton steps aside for the two to enter her new home.

* * *

_

Gabriella shakes her head to bring her back to the present.

She is still sitting on the floor of Troy's room with her physics book open in her lap and Troy sitting just meters away from her. She looks at his face and realizes that he is still deep in thought. She feels a small smile caress her face as she takes in the way his aquamarine pools are transfixed on the sky, with his front teeth nibbling lightly on his bottom lip as he thinks. Her eyes dart across the strong jaw, dotted with stubble, the same one she has caressed multiple times, down his slender yet muscular neck to his chest, which she has seen bare so many times that she cannot count. She has memorized every scar, birthmark or burn on his body, knowing exactly where each one is and the reason for it being there. No one knows Troy Bolton better that Gabriella Montez, not even his parents. He always tells her that would not know what to do with himself without her but the past month proved that to be a lie.

She bows her head and stares at her book to hide her glossy eyes. She will not cry over Troy Bolton anymore, not now, not ever. "What does that have to do with anything?" she finally speaks after calming herself down.

Troy looks away from the window then at her, "I- I just wanted to know if you remembered."

He is lying and she knows it.

"Whatever Troy, I have to go anyway." She starts to gather her belongings when Troy's desperate voice stops her

"R-remember that day, in freshman year, when you helped me wash my dads' car?"

"I've helped you wash your dads' car millions of times, Troy. What exactly do you want from me?"

"No, that day when you…when you told me that Jeremy Allen k-kissed you and that you l-liked it?" Gabriella's eyebrows furrow slightly, finding it strange that he is stammering.

"Yeah… Why?"

"T-that was the first time I ever felt so jealous that I was wanted to kill someone."

Gabriella's heart stops. Troy was jealous of the fact that Jeremy Allen kissed her? He had no reason to be when he had millions of, dare she say it, fifteen, sixteen as well as seventeen year old _super_model worthy girls chasing after him at every second of the day.

Freshman year wasn't exactly her favorite year.

She had just barely started to hit puberty, with all the acne and was just getting used to her braces as well as slowly losing all her baby fat.

* * *

_Lying on her stomach in the middle of her bed with her legs in the air, Gabriella flicks lazily through her geometry text book, idly searching for the page which holds her homework due Monday. She pushes her over-sized glasses further up her nose and runs her tongue across the braces covering her upper front teeth, something she always does when she is either nervous or deep in thought, at this very moment it was both. When she finally finds the page, she realizes that the words and numbers just look like large blotches of ink scattered across the page. She can't seem to concentrate; she has too much on her mind._

_She lets out a silent sigh, closes the book then pulls herself off her bed. The fifteen year old freshman hesitantly walks to the floor length mirror. She pulls off her large round glasses and throws them onto her bed before raising her head to glance into the mirror._

_At fifteen, Gabriella Montez is every girl's nightmare. She has just started to lose all her baby fat; due to long hours of jogging and running; she has several fairly large pimples adorning her face, her crooked teeth are being straightened by the extremely uncomfortable braces in her mouth. She once again runs her tongue across her braces as she turns sideways; she smiles triumphantly when she notices that her sweats are a little too big for her. She lifts her baggy over sized shirt a little to reveal her newly flattened stomach, she pinches the skin gently. She can definitely see some changes, but not enough to understand exactly why Jeremy would actually _kiss _her._

_It had happened after school, when she was stuffing her books hurriedly into her locker, knowing that Troy would be waiting for her at the school's entrance to walk home together, in the deserted hallway. Jeremy had walked up to her, wrapped his hand around her wrist and twirled her around to face him before planting his lips firmly against hers. She had been in too much shock to actually do anything. After what felt like hours, he pulled back and grinned adorably at her. She had immediately blushed and looked away, internally cursing herself for reacting so slow._

_To be truthful, Gabriella was never really attracted to Jeremy in any way. She had found his white blond hair to be a little too wiry, his nose a little too crooked, his lips too thin, his face too pale and his body a little too muscular, and she herself didn't think that he was interested in her in any way so it truly surprised her when the basketball player just unexpectedly walked up to her and kissed her; and just seconds after kissing her, Jeremy had the nerve to _state_ that they were going out tomorrow (Saturday) night and without waiting for a response from he had walked away, smirking triumphantly._

_Now, standing in front of her mirror, Gabriella is not sure what to think. She isn't sure whether she is excited, angry or just confused. She runs her fingers through her wild curls and frowns when her fingers tangle in her hair. She needs to clear her head; she needs to run. _

_Minutes later, Gabriella is jogging down the stairs in shorts turquoise blue shirt. She has her hair piled at the top of her head in tight bun with several stubborn strands falling into her face. She exchanges her glasses for contacts as she plugs her iPod earphones into her ears. She lets herself out of the front door quietly, her white _Nike _sneakers not making single sound._

_She starts her jog at the top of the stairs of the porch and bravely runs into the blazing heat of the Albuquerque atmosphere. She starts at a slow pace, inhaling through her mouth and exhaling through her nose, with the loud music from her earphones vibrating her ear drums. _

_"Hey! Montez!" Gabriella stops when she swears she can hear someone calling her. She turns to her right and a smile breaks out across her face. Her best friend of nine years is grinning at her, motioning wildly at her to come. She rips her earphones from her ears and jogs over to where he is standing by a black truck covered in soap bubbles._

_"Hey." She greets as she rushes over to the boy clad in a plain white shirt, basketball shorts and flip flops. His incredibly long shaggy blond hair falls into his bright blue eyes which are twinkling blindly with mischief. Gabriella realizes what he is thinking and starts to back away from him. "Troy," she warns, "I have my iPod with me!"_

_He ignores her and lunges for the pipe. Gabriella manages to dodge the spray of cold water directed at her. She reaches into her pocket and pulls her iPod out which she places on the rail of the porch. She turns around to find Troy when she feels her body being drenched in ice cold water from the hose._

_"TROY!" she screams, wiping at her face vigorously with her hands. "That's not fair! I wasn't ready."_

_"You're just slow Montez." He teases. She runs towards his voice and tackles him from behind. He lets out a surprised yell as he falls to the floor and the hose slips from his grasp. "Shit, Gabs!"_

_Gabriella giggles and sits firmly on his back._

_"Get off, you're fat ass is crushing me!" Troy groans, trying to push her off, but his twig arms are too weak. Gabriella flinches internally at the word "fat" but shrugs it off. Troy is constantly teasing her about her weight, but she knows that he does not mean any of it. _

_"Never, it's payback." She laughs, ruffling his hair playfully._

_"Well it isn't fair!" he complains as he tries to swat her hands away._

_Gabriella playfully sticks her tongue out at him. The pipe a little way off catches her eye. Taking a chance, she jumps off Troy and grabs the hose. _

_"Okay, Montez. I give." He surrenders, hoisting himself off the pavement. Gabriella looks at him for a moment before smirking and relaxing her stance. Troy walks over to her side and grabs the soapy sponge floating around in the bucket._

_"You wouldn't?"_

_He beams deviously at her and wiggles his eyebrows in such a manner that makes Gabriella find it sexy yet cute. "Payback's a bitch, Brie."_

_"Wait, before you do anything I have something to tell you." She mumbles, taking a step back._

_"I'm listening."_

_"You know Jeremy?" Gabriella watches as Troy's brow furrows as he tries to place the name._

_"Allen?"_

_Gabriella nods._

_"What about him?"_

_"He kissed me today," she says slowly as she takes another step back, her face now resembling an over ripe tomato. Troy's mouth forms an "o" and he stops walking forward; his eyes flash with anger and his hands form fists. Gabriella is shocked; she did not expect this kind of reaction from him. She expects him to make fun of her and tease her about crushing on someone._

_"Did you…did you like it?" his voice shakes._

_Without thinking, Gabriella nods. _Did she? _"And he's taking me out tomorrow."_

_Troy's face becomes blank and he turns away from her and begins wiping the car with the sponge. "That's great." Gabriella notices the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. An awkward silence drifts between the two friends, occasionally interrupted by the noisy birds, an agitated dog in the distance or the very few cars that drive past. _

_Gabriella stays in her spot with the hose still in her hand, staring down at the clear water that pools around her trainers. She chews her lip nervously, wishing she can take back what has just happened in the past minute. She had no idea that Troy would react this way and quite honestly she does not know what to think of it. _

_"So," Troy speaks after a long while as he ceases his movements and glances at her over his shoulder, "what's it like kissing with braces?"

* * *

_

"You…you were j-jealous?"

Troy sighs and run his fingers through his hair. Of course he was; Gabriella Montez is perfection in his eyes. "I know it sounds weird. At that time I thought it was just the typical brotherly-over-protectiveness-thing," he pauses and locks eyes with her, "but I was wrong. It was later that I realized that I…that I was-am attracted to you."

Gabriella feels her heart falter beneath her ribs. Her breath catches in her throat as her stomach falls into a quick rhythm of continuous somersaults. He is attracted to _her_? The question lingers in the center of her brain as she tries to make sense of it all. His apologetic blue eyes continue to stare deeply into her own brown orbs, silently begging for forgiveness, this causes a large bubble of guilt to form painfully in the middle of her chest. She can forgive him, right?

_You're still mad at him, Montez. _Gabriella reminds herself and quickly averts her gaze.

Troy mumbles something under his ragged breath and returns his gaze to the window, with several rain droplets trickling down the glass. He can still clearly remember the first day he realized that he was attracted to Gabriella, it was the first time he had ever seen her naked, right after freshman year, during the second week of their summer vacation.

* * *

_"C'mon Brie, live a little!"_

_"No." is the short reply._

_"It's not going to kill you."_

_"I know that, but I'm still not doing it."_

_"Do you know how many girls would kill for this?"_

_"Yes, but that's not going to make me do it either."_

_"Trust me on this one Brie, you'll love it."_

_"So you've done it before?"_

_"Once..."_

_"You're sick, did you know that?"_

_"But you love me anyway."_

_"You know what, fine."_

_She isn't sure if it is Troy's constant nagging that drove her over the edge or the adrenaline coursing through her veins that makes her rip her shirt off and drop it onto the wet grass. Troy's eyes double in size, in shock. He does not expect her to cave so easily and pull her shirt off so suddenly. He watches, frozen as she continues to pull off her clothes and stops when she's wearing nothing but her underwear…_

_'Matching, lacy black bra and… Cut it out Bolton!'_

_"Happy now?" she hisses angrily. Troy does not know what to think or say. He tries to tear is gaze away from her body but finds it difficult to do so. The last time he saw Gabriella naked was when they were seven and were taking an innocent bubble bath together with their mothers snapping pictures. Troy can faintly remember Christina laughing at them. _

_He's eyes bug out when he feels a sudden rush of scalding hot blood shoot down to his abdomen, he feels his palms begin to sweat and the air around him thicken, making it difficult for him to breathe. 'Please…not here, not now; not with her!' he prays silently. There is no way he is attracted to Gabriella Montez, his best friend. He nervously runs his dry tongue over his sandpaper lips trying to moisten them and shifts his gaze away from her. She is nothing like he remembered. She has lost all the fat, and has developed new mind blowing curves that persuasively call for him to run his hands over continuously._

_"M-maybe…maybe this isn't such a good idea." He stammers, trying to calm himself down at the sight of his best friend. 'Grandpa's real teeth,' he thinks desperately 'Chad's room, Aunt Fiona's back hair, dad's cooking…' nothing seems to be working._

_"Nah uh, Bolton; you were the one who kept on nagging at me to do it, so we are going to do it." He watches frozen as she reaches behind her and fumbles with her bra clasp. 'No, please G*d no!'_

_"B-Brie, we don't have to."_

_She slides the straps her bra down her arms tantalizingly slow and he swallows nervously, feeling another painful throb in his lower regions. 'Shit…' He turns away completely; he is not going to get excited by his best friend, but then his mind starts to wander; an image of a naked, sweat drenched, Gabriella with her head thrown back, crying out his name beneath him fills his head. 'No!' he forcefully blocks the image out and bites down so hard on his lower lip that he swears he can taste blood. He starts to pull his own clothes off, not caring if she sees, and without waiting for her, he jumps into the warm lake._

_The first time Troy Bolton ever felt attracted to his best friend, was the first, and possibly the last, day they ever went skinny dipping together.

* * *

_

"That's why you were acting so weird? That…that night at the lake?" she feels suddenly out of breath, "'cause you were attracted to…to me?" even after knowing him for over a decade, Gabriella never believed that _the _Troy Bolton would _ever _be attracted to _her_; after all, he has over 99.999% of the East High female population, as well as girls from many other schools in Albuquerque running after him at ever second…so why _her_?

Troy nods, "I thought it was just me being a teenage guy; but then that day, when you were helping me out with _Romeo & Juliet_, and we ended up trying to bake cookies and we had that food fight and I helped you wash cookie dough out of your hair, and…and we ended up having to scrape cookie dough off the walls before your parents came home, I realized that I was more than just a _little _bit attracted to you. I guess I kind of had a crush on you."

"Ha, that's rich Troy." Gabriella snaps sarcastically, "It's raining and I'm tired, so save us all this crap and shove it up your ass." Both teenagers' eyes widen in shock. No one has ever heard Gabriella Montez speak that way.

Troy speaks after finally being able to regain himself.

"I'm not lying to you Brie."

* * *

_Studying in Gabriella's bedroom has always been a daunting task for Troy, he has been finding it difficult to concentrate in the recent years, especially with her lying on her bed just inches away from him in one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts that he has mistaken many times for underwear._

_On this particular afternoon, for the first time ever, Troy can get absolutely nothing into his head. All the words on the page before him just resemble carelessly drawn thick, dark scribbles. This might also have to do with the fact that Gabriella is just meters from him, lying on her stomach on her bed with her bare legs dangling temptingly in the air, as well as the fact that he still cannot get the image of her, that night, at the lake out of his head. _

_'Romeo- [To Juliet] If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss—'_

_"Brieeee!" Troy moans for the hundredth time that afternoon._

_"Trooooy!" she mimics, pulling her face out of her own book and staring at her best friend with a frustrated scowl, knowing exactly what he wants "you can't expect me to explain _every _line to you."_

_Troy smirks slyly. "I do."_

_Gabriella sighs. She places her book on her bed, unfolds her legs and walks over to her desk where Troy is lounging on the chair with his feet on her desk. "What is it this time?" she asks as she places her hands on his shoulders and leans over him to peer into his book._

_"I can't understand anything!" he complains as he tilts his head back to look at her, trying to tame his pounding heart at the little distance between them._

_"Studying with Taylor is so much easier than studying with you!"_

_"Yea?" he smirks cockily reaching up to tangle one of her many curls around his index finger. "But I am way more entertaining, right?"_

_Gabriella frowns in an attempt to hide her smile, "wrong." Troy's smirk does not falter. He continues to wrap the curl around his finger, enjoying the feel of her soft tendrils on his skin._

_"Okay, what don't you understand?"_

_"Everything…" he mumbles coyly._

_"I still don't get it, Brie." Troy finally speaks after listening to Gabriella try to explain the same passage to him for the fourth time._

_"Okay, you know what?" Gabriella exclaims as she passes her hand through her hair and stands up from the floor where they are currently sitting, "let's take a break." She suggests and Troy nods enthusiastically._

_"Troy, don't eat the cookie dough!"_

_"But it's so good." _

_Gabriella chuckles as she whacks him with the wooden spoon and snatches the plastic mixing bowl from his hands._

_"Aw, c'mon Brie," he protests reaching for the bowl "you're such a spoil sport!" he growls giving up and hoisting himself onto the breakfast bar. "When are they going to be done anyway?"_

_Gabriella shrugs as she spoons the mixture on to the baking tray, "they'll be done quicker if you get off your ass and help me!" She snaps struggling to hold the mixing bowl as well as place spoonfuls of the cookie dough onto the tray at the same time._

_Troy beams slyly, "you of all people know that I do not participate in charity work" his grin widens as she manages to place the bowl down safely, "Especially," he continues "when it involves cooking and me not getting paid."_

_"You really are an ass, Bolton."_

_"Aw, I love you too Brie."_

_Instead of responding, Gabriella finds herself reaching into the pack of flour and flinging a handful of it at Troy._

_"What the fuck?" he manages to sputter through the thick dust of flour coating his head. He viciously swiped at his eyes, trying to clear vision, "what the hell was that for?"_

_"For being an ass." She poked her tongue out at him playfully when he scowled in return._

_"Are you like FIVE?" he snaps jumping off the counter and advancing towards Gabriella. _

_For the next ten minutes or so, the Montez kitchen is filled with excited and shocked squeals from Gabriella and muttered curse words from Troy as they sloppily attempt to dodge the various assortments of baking materials flying haphazardly towards them._

_Gabriella's screams ricochet off the tiled walls as she scampers around the kitchen ducking beneath tables and chairs, trying to avoid the fistfuls of cookie dough that come hurling her way._

_"I surrender!" she screams as the millionth chunk of cookie dough lodges itself on to her mass of unruly curls. She pauses by the stove to feverously pick at it and several others buried deep in her hair. Troy chuckles victoriously and runs his fingers through his sticky hair, "never start what you can't finish." He gloats._

_"Shut up Bolton." She growls still tugging at the dough in her hair, "how the hell am I supposed to get this off?" she shrieks tugging excessively hard at a stubborn hunk of dough._

_"With water I presume," Troy says lightly gliding over to her and playfully tugging one of her curls, "and tons of shampoo."_

_Gabriella frowns and whacks his bicep hard. "Thank you for your assistance, Einstein I greatly appreciate it." She snorts sarcastically._

_"Come here let me help you." Troy offers with a small smile. Gabriella reluctantly lets Troy pull her into his rigid body. She suppresses a tremor as she feels the hard planes of his chiseled chest brush against her back. His large callused fingers tangle in her hair and carefully rid it of the sugary treat, trying hard not to inflict any pain on her._

_"Fucking hell Brie" Troy finally growls after pulling at the same knot for over a minute, "what in the hell is your hair made of?"_

_Gabriella grins and pushes herself away from him letting his hands drop, "I'm going to go take a shower." She mumbles, feeling suddenly shy._

_"Want some company?"_

_Gabriella blushes and looks away from the mischievous glint in her best friends coral blue eyes, "no thank you." She watches as his face mockingly falls and he pulls on a pout, "but you can go take a shower in the guest bathroom, you know where everything is."_

_"But I'll be lonely." Troy complains, twining his slowly developing arms around Gabriella's own tiny waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. He nuzzles his nose gently against the side of her neck, causing a silent sigh to escape through her parted lips._

_"That's your problem not mine." She untangles herself from his arms and slips out of the kitchen, leaving Troy smiling softly to himself._

She is definitely something else. _He thinks to himself as he wanders around the kitchen, collecting their used dishes and piling them into the sink, _Thank G*d she's mine.

* * *

Her eyes glisten with a fresh batch of tears and she feels her lower lip tremble. "I really have to go" she manages strongly and quickly pushes the rest of her belongings into her book bag. Her motions halt when a rough and warm hand coils around her upper arm. A warm thumb strokes the rough material of her sweater and she feels the searing touch sink through the material and burn her skin.

"Please don't go." He begs as silent tears fall down his face.

Gabriella looks up and regrets doing so. All the pain, misery, confusion and torture she feels reflects through the glistening turquoise orbs staring back at her; without thinking, she lets her trembling hand fall onto his shoulder. She has never wanted any of this to happen to either of them. She silently wonders what had happened to the two inseparable best friends they had been just months prior: Two friends who were never afraid to express their feeling or thoughts, two friends that knew each other better than anyone else in the world, two friends who had already planned to go to the same college and live in the same house until they died. She wonders what happened to the two people who were never afraid to be themselves around each other and constantly teased each other senseless.

She bows her head and ceases all physical contact between them. "Mom will probably be wondering where I am…" She says and bends to continue packing her things.

Troy nods helplessly. He needs to make her stay, to make her understand why he did what he did, to make her realize just how much he was hurting because of what he has done. He lets his sore body fall back onto his bed and runs a tired hand through his shaggy unkempt hair.

"I never really liked her."

Gabriella freezes and Troy watches as her back tenses. "W-what?"

"Lisa I mean" he continues to stare blankly at his bedroom ceiling, letting the long awaited words tumble out of his mouth, "she's always been too controlling, she's kind of like Shar sometimes, but ten times worse." Troy smiles faintly, hoping that she will smile at his lame joke, but from what he can see of her face, she looks appalled.

He sighs and passes a shaking pale hand over his face. He is nervous as hell! He can feel the nerves in the pit of his stomach clenching and unclenching, twisting and rolling about aimlessly. He has never in his craziest dreams imagined that it will be this painful to tell Gabriella exactly how his feelings are towards her. "The only reason I asked her out" he pauses and subconsciously plays with a loose string on his bed cover, "i-is because I wanted you. I wanted you to notice me and know that I'm not the kind of guy to hang around waiting…G*d I sound like a fucking girl. I didn't plan for mine and Lisa's relationship to last that long, I just wanted to see-to know…crap." Troy chews on his lip before speaking again, "But you told Tay, that day at Burger King that you'd never go out with me because I was like your older brother and I heard you, I didn't…I didn't know how to react to that. I was just so confused. T-that's why I left so early, not because I had a headache." He sits up on the bed and stares at his hands, unable to stare at her face, silently praying that there is no sign of disgust and hate written across her soft features. "I didn't go home after that, I went to Lisa's. Her parents weren't home and I was pissed at what you said to Taylor, and I don't know how it happened, but one minute I was fuming and the next we-we were…" he shuts up, unsure of how to say it.

"But none of it meant and still means nothing to me. I was mad, hurt and heartbroken, so yea…then she started getting serious about-about u-us, and I was still pissed at you so let her control everything I did. I didn't stop talking to you because I was so into Lisa, I just wanted to get over you, to forget about us…I-I couldn't handle the rejection, Brie. I loved you and just hearing you say that was…fuck" Troy feels his eyelids seal securely as the painful memory fills his head.

* * *

_Burger King is unnaturally empty, especially for a Saturday._

_The booths lining the walls are completely deserted, the salt and pepper shakers, and various assortments of sugars left completely untouched. The wait staff of the restaurant lean idly against the bar picking at their aprons or chattering away on their mobile phones or to each other._

_The odd silence that hangs in the chill atmosphere creates an odd sense of discomfort for the four teenagers' packed in a booth at the far corner of the restaurant._

_Troy leans back awkwardly into his seat and boredly swirls his straw around in his cola, oblivious to the world around him, seemingly fascinated by the melting ice cubes floating around in the cool brown liquid._

_"Are you _fucking _kidding me? How long does it take to get food around here?" His male best friends' voice draws him out of his reverie and he snaps his head up, back to the living._

_"Dude, it's only been like what? Ten minutes." Troy sighs tiredly._

_"Actually, it's been way less than that." Taylor Mckessie pipes up as her dark plump lips wrap around the straw of her drink. She quietly exhales, wishing that the aura of tension looming around the four friends would just evaporate for good, but nothing. She rolls her dark chocolate eyes at her best friend who is sitting next to her awkwardly playing with the hem of her dress and keeping her eyes on the shiny wooden table. It has been almost three weeks since the said tension had formed and she has been dreading the cause of it ever since._

_Why did Troy have to be so stupid, so blunt as to not see the obvious feelings that Gabriella had towards him? Why did he have to go and ask that, that _thing _to be his girlfriend? Why the hell was it Lisa before Gabriella?_

_Taylor feels her head swoon with these questions and quickly shakes her head and rubs her eye with the heel of her palm. She slowly places her drink back onto the table and pushes her dark charcoal hair behind her ear as her dark eyes flick from Troy's tensed figure to Gabriella's restless one._

Why can't Troy see how much Gabby's hurting?_ She asks herself, feeling a sudden uneasiness in the base of her stomach._

_"Hey Gabs," Chad says from beside Troy. Taylor notices the way Troy's head shoots up at the mention of Gabriella. "I finally beat your high score in Guitar Hero."_

_"Keep dreaming Chad." She smiles at him genuinely, "I'm undefeatable."_

_"No way, I beat you the last time." Troy's voice joins in._

_"Dream on Bolton, none of you guys can beat me." Taylor says tauntingly._

_"That's coz you've got that whole calculation thing going on, so no fair."_

_Taylor rolls her eyes at her boyfriends' complaint "you wish that was the reason."_

_"It is the reason."_

_"And what makes you think that?"_

_"Because there is no way that _you _can be better than me in any video game!"_

_"Excuse me Danforth?"_

_As the couple continues to argue over the useless issue, Gabriella dares a peek at Troy who is watching the argument with the same look of amusement and slight irritation as hers. As though he can feel her eyes on him, Troy looks up. His lips stretch into a goofy grin and Gabriella cannot help but grin back. The moment is broken when Taylor roughly grabs Gabriella arm and hauls her away from the two male teens._

_"Chad Danforth is a fat big-headed ass with a large blob of Jell-O for a brain." Taylor seethes beneath her breath. "Enough about that fat ass and onto you and Bolton over there."_

_Gabriella rolls her eyes at this and leans against the vacant bar. She should have seen this coming. Taylor is constantly nagging her about her "oh-so-subtle" feelings for Troy for over three years now. "What about me and him?" she queries innocently._

_"Why not just get over your damn pride and make out with him instead of sitting there and partaking in your fucking eye-sex?"_

_Gabriella's eyes widen in shock. This is so unlike Taylor! "W-what?"_

_"You two have been sitting there for the past who knows how long practically fucking each other with yours eyes!" _

_"Oh my G*d, you sound exactly like Pay!"_

_"Yea, that blonde's been polluting my mind. So are you going to do anything about this?"_

_"Pay polluting your mind?" Gabriella asks, feigning cluelessness._

_"Please, do not give me any reason to backhand you with my foot, coz I swear I will do it."_

_"You're so aggressive Tay!" Gabriella teases though still somewhat shocked at her friend's behavior._

_"Blame those lunk-head assholes as well as Sharpay."_

_Gabriella giggles._

_So when do you plan on going out with that lunk-head over there?"_

_"Troy/ Ew, Tay. He's like my over-protective brother. I would never ever go out with him."_

_Troy Bolton's heart breaks at these words. He has never felt so crushed before.

* * *

_

"If you don't like her then why did you ask her out?"

"'Cause I wanted to make you jealous"

"Why?"

"Because I love you," he sighs, "I love you so, _so _much, Brie. Lisa was a mistake, one that I would do anything to correct."

"Why didn't you ask me about it instead of just assuming?" Gabriella finally asks incredulously after a long silence.

Troy sits up and shrugs slowly, "I was a chicken."

Gabriella scowls and folds her arms across her chest. "So, all those times you blew me off? It was because you were a chicken?"

Troy immediately pulls his body up to a standing position and walks forward until he is standing right in front of her. "Yes." He admits painfully. "A stupid, irresponsible, jerk-ass chicken…"

Gabriella feels her lips stretch into a small smile and she slowly buries her fingers in his messy chestnut hair and brings his face close to hers. Troy's eyes flutter at the feel of her sweet minty breath teasing his overly sensitive nostrils. His arms instinctively lock around her slender waist and he brings her body close to his.

"You forgot lunk-head." She murmurs, still bringing their faces close enough for their noses to brush. Troy chuckles, "that too."

Gabriella feels her lips tingle electrifyingly as they brush lightly against his, "am I forgiven?" Troy asks slowly, brushing his lips against hers again.

"Only if I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I hurt you, badly."

"But it was worth it."

Their lips finally meet, properly. Blazing heat trickles through both teenagers' bodies, igniting stronger and newer emotions than they have ever felt. Gabriella feels her other hand slither up his neck and join her hand that's buried deep in his hair as his own slip beneath her shirt and bring her closer.

"I am so, _so _sorry about everything, Brie." Troy whispers against her lips as he fights to bring her as close to his body as he can manage. Gabriella only responds by pushing her lips against his and drawing her tongue along his lower lip. Troy feels himself respond to her vigorous kiss and proceeds to match it. His hands slide beneath her thighs and he hoists her up, leaving her to wrap her legs around his waist. "I love you," he breathes as he moves his face to rest on the crook of her neck where he peppers teasing kisses, "so much."

"I love you too."

This certainly going to be another unforgettable memory…

THE END

* * *

**Sorry, I was rushing to post this so the ending's a little too fast. There is soooo much more that I want to add, but like I said, I was anxious to post it. Is it too cheesy, the ending? Please express your thoughts in a review. **


End file.
